Acer Iconia One 10 (B3-A30) Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
This refreshed version of the Iconia One 10 fills a need for a 10-inch-class tablet at a low price. It compromises on display and performance, but the price makes it a good choice for casual entertainment or kids. Read More…

What We Liked…

Low price

Expandable storage via MicroSD card

Well-situated, clear-sounding front-facing speakers

What We Didn’t…

Low-resolution display makes a poor choice for reading

Plastic case feels inexpensive

Acer Iconia One 10 (B3-A30) Review

Table of Contents

Introduction, Design & Features

Given the relatively slow growth and sluggish pace of innovation in Android tablets and iPads alike, new releases have slowed to a trickle from 2016 into 2017. While you'll find the occasional new no-name tablet-du-jour in the low-cost Android market, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a model like the Acer Iconia One 10 (B3-A30). This model isn’t about delivering the best features at the best price. Rather, it’s about delivering the best features it can at a low price.

The Iconia One 10 carries a list price of $129.99 and was selling for bang-on that price at this February 2017 writing from most resellers. It's a refreshed version of the Iconia One 10 (B3-A20) we looked at in early 2016. We couldn’t find another 10-inch-class Android tablet from a name-brand maker coming in anywhere all that near that price. Even the Amazon Fire HD 10 was selling for $229.99 direct at this writing, and that model has been on the market for more than a year. The Asus ZenPad 3S 10, another recent release with a like-size screen, was at $299.99, and the Apple iPad Air 2, in its most basic configuration with 32GB of onboard storage, costs nearly three times the price, at $399.

Given such a dramatic cost savings over an equivalent-size new iPad Air 2, the Iconia One 10 makes a great case for a workaday tablet whose primary usage is for low-intensity games or viewing video. The Iconia One 10 isn’t aimed at the audience who wants the coolest, most svelte tablet design around. Instead, it’s great for use in locations like a kitchen or den, for use by the kids in the car, and for other situations and places where budget is more important than worrying about whether an all-metal chassis gets scratched.

The Iconia One 10 has baseline specs that reflect its low-pixel-density screen, sluggish performance, and tinny audio. Those internal, lower-end components sync up with the value pricing. But the key thing here is the screen size for the money. More often, at this price we’d expect to see a tablet with a much smaller screen (albeit, potentially, one with slightly better components than on the Iconia One 10). For example, the Amazon Fire HD 8 sells for $90.

When considered against its name-brand competition, the Iconia One 10 is one of the rare pure-budget plays around. The aforementioned Asus ZenPad 3S 10 and Huawei MediaPad M2 10 are both midrange tablets, while models like the Apple iPad Air 2, Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S2 models) are more flagship-level. So how does the Iconia One 10 fit in? Read on to find out.

Design & Features

From the front, nothing about the Iconia One 10 looks distinctive. Rather, the tablet defines "nondescript," with a white display bezel and a matching white-plastic chassis.

The front-firing speakers, centered along the shorter edges of the display, stand out most. Flip the tablet over, and the most distinctive design element is the chrome-colored, two-part plastic bit that surrounds the 5-megapixel camera and protects the edge-mounted MicroSD card slot and micro-USB port. You’ll likely need to use that MicroSD expansion, since the 32GB tablet has less than 24GB of usable space as it comes out of the box.

The flap for the MicroSD slot is secure, though we could see it being easy to break, too. Along the same edge as the flap (which is on the tablet's "top," when held in landscape orientation) sit the power button and the volume rocker. Both are well-defined buttons, although they lack refinement, given their squared-off edges...

Along the left edge (or the top in portrait mode) sit the micro-USB charging port and headphone jack...

We found the headphone jack's placement a bit awkward, especially when using the tablet in landscape mode, with the camera at the top of the tablet. The jack would have been better placed at lower left rather than upper left, in that situation. In portrait, of course, you can orient the tablet with the jack at top or at bottom, as you like.

The matte-plastic chassis looks reasonably well-suited to hold up to wear, with a mildly textured back plate that is infinitesimally easier to hold than if the back had been perfectly smooth. The build felt sturdy, though we were concerned by the slight gaps between the bezel and the display, for example, that could end up becoming havens for dirt to collect over time.

The slate measures 10.2x6.6 inches, and stands 0.36 inch thick. On the whole, that’s a noticeably larger footprint than the 9.5x6.4 inches, and 0.22-inch thickness of the ultra-trim ZenPad 3S 10 (which shares similar length and width dimensions to the iPad Air 2). In part, the Acer’s larger size is necessary to accommodate the extra screen size, as the Acer has a true 10.1-inch display, versus the Asus and Apple models’ 9.7 inches. That said, that doesn't account for the extra thickness, and the Acer’s design is chunky, lacking the elegance of more sophisticated—and more expensive—competitors.

The Iconia One 10 weighs 1.15 pounds, noticeably heavier than the svelte ZenPad 3S 10 and the iPad Air 2, which are each around 15 ounces. It’s certainly portable, but it's not easy to hold in one hand for long periods for reading.

Not that you’re likely to do a lot of reading on the Iconia One 10. The tablet has a native resolution of 1,280x800 pixels. On a tablet of this size, that translates to 150 pixels per inch, a rather low count that’s a throwback to the early days of tablet panels. Typical resolution for a tablet at this screen size is at least 1,920x1,080 pixels, also known as Full HD or 1080p.

The result is a display that renders text without the crispness or clarity we’ve come to expect from our smartphones, let alone tablets. Furthermore, that lack of clarity—even fuzzy blur—carries over to graphics. All of the content that we sampled on the tablet lacked the detail and punch we’re used to on higher-end slates. While the video for Disney’s live-action update of Beauty and the Beast looked cheery enough (albeit, short of vibrant), the colors in our test photographic images and the general look of sites and shots in the Chrome browser fell flat.

That said, if you choose to read on the tablet, a Bluelight Shield mode is built into the settings shortcuts; it's accessible via the Display settings, too. Something of a must-have new feature for tablets, Bluelight Shield gives the display an amber hue to reduce blue-light emissions for reading late in the day, prepping your eyes for bedtime.

We already mentioned the discrete front-firing stereo speakers. Those were well-situated. Surprisingly, we didn’t find our hands blocking the speakers when gripping the tablet in landscape mode, even though it might seem like that would be the case. The audio output is reasonably loud at the maximum setting, but it also lacks the range we’ve seen on some other tablets (such as, notably, the Asus ZenPad 3S 10). The audio we played sounded clear, but it was tinny; it was missing the bass and body needed to balance the sound.

On the connectivity front, we were pleasantly surprised to find dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi on board. This is not a given for a low-cost tablet.

Operating System & Software

The Iconia One 10 tablet runs Android 6.0 (also known by the code-name "Marshmallow"), with a distinct Acer flavor. Acer tweaked the design of the home screen, and makes its own Gallery the default on the home screen's app tray.

Noticeably, Acer packs the tablet with a ton of pre-loaded apps, some more useful than others. On the home screen alone is Pocket, Kidoz’ Kids Center, a Microsoft folder (containing the mobile-companion apps for Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype), and Acer’s own Iconia suite (with EZ Utilities, EZ Snap, and EZ WakeUp).

A handful of additional apps from Acer and others (including the Opera Max browser) comes pre-loaded, as well. This is likely why just shy of 24GB of storage is user-accessible out of the box.

Table of Contents

Acer Iconia One 10 (B3-A30)

Our Verdict:
This refreshed version of the Iconia One 10 fills a need for a 10-inch-class tablet at a low price. It compromises on display and performance, but the price makes it a good choice for casual entertainment or kids.

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